man
for Catholic, Protestant, and Dissenter." The promoters, too, were
fortunate in their choice of orator for the occasion. Mr. P.H. Pearse
did full justice to the occasion, and in language, beautiful and
impressive, pictured the man and his movements and the lessons to be
drawn by us to-day from the lifework of leaders in thought and action
like Tone. Close and consistent adhesion to principles of patriotism
and a readiness of self-sacrifice in the pursuit of those principles,
were his distinguishing characteristics all through life, and if we in
our time would emulate the example of Tone and his times, we must also
be ready when the call came to meet any demand made upon us for the
promotion of our national welfare. The orator of the day rightly, in
our opinion, described that hallowed spot in Bodenstown as one of the
holiest places in Ireland to-day, from the nationalist standpoint,
holding as it does the ashes of the man who, without friends, money or
influence to help him, and by sheer force of character, intensity of
purpose and earnestness, prevailed upon the greatest emperor-general
the world has ever seen Napoleon Bonaparte, to make a descent on
Ireland, in order to aid our starved, tortured, and persecuted people
to shake off the shackles that kept them in slavery, and elevate
Ireland once more to the dignity of full, free, and untrammelled
nationhood. We are all familiar with the events following this great
effort of Tone's, and the dark chapters that closed a glorious career.
All that is mortal of Tone is in the keeping of Kildare, and it is
a trust that we feel sure is not alone felt to be a high honour,
but which cannot fail to keep the cultivation of a high standard of
nationality before the people in whose midst repose the remains of one
of Ireland's greatest sons. Ireland, from the centre to the sea,
was represented in Sunday's great gathering to commemorate the
achievements of Wolfe Tone, and the occasion was honoured first by
the large and representative character of the throng, secondly by the
decorum observed all through the day's proceedings, and thirdly, by
the regularity and precision which attended the entire arrangements.
There was just one other feature which must have been very gratifying
to those identified with the organisation of the pilgrimage,
namely: the large proportion of ladies and young people, coming long
distances, who made up the gathering. And they were by no means the
least en